The next afternoon, all six of them stood outside Vihaan Malhotra's house.

No one had planned who would knock.

No one even knew what to say.

Finally, Ayaan rang the bell.

A few moments later, Vihaan opened the door on crutches.

His eyes widened.

"What are you all doing here?"

Ayaan grinned.

"We got bored without our athlete."

Vihaan laughed for the first time since his injury.

As they walked inside, the room filled with the kind of noise only friends could make. Ayaan complained that detention had become "unbearably quiet," Aashi talked about getting lost in the school corridors again, and even Yash joined the conversation without being asked.

Akruti quietly handed Vihaan a folded sheet of paper.

He opened it carefully.

It was the sketch of the seven chairs.

This time, the empty chair had a small basketball resting on it.

Vihaan looked up.

"You drew this?"

She nodded.

He smiled, his eyes glistening.

"I didn't realize you all would actually miss me."

Reyansh spoke before anyone else could.

"We didn't."

Vihaan looked confused.

Reyansh smiled.

"We missed our friend."

For a moment, no one spoke.

Some feelings were too meaningful to be interrupted by words.